1. Swamp Thing. Variously 'reincarnated' from a scientist killed in a lab experiment gone wrong, Swamp Thing is a vegetable matter superhero who is very hard to destroy (he just rejuvenates), who can transport his consciousness into vegetation in another location, and who can control the plants around him. He is, on occasion, a bit of an eco-superhero. Mmm, odd.
2, Black Canary. I like that this female superhero came about due to the police force's misogynistic hiring policies of the forties—necessitating her becoming a superhero for the Justice League of America. Her power is the Canary Cry—a high pitch scream which breaks things and debilitates her opponents. A canary, even a black one, doesn't seem the most ominous of creatures. Maybe her subtlety is a killer, but no male superhero would ever have to be the incarnation of a small fluffy bird. And just in case this all didn't seem sexist enough, her character had to be changed so that she was in fact her own daughter when, like news readers, she got too old to be conceivably super.
3. Absorbing Man. I like it when they don't mess around with fancy names. What does Absorbing Man do? He absorbs. There you go. He is actually a bad guy, but there is a great moment of the metaphysical when he absorbs/is absorbed by the ocean as a means of escape, and in the immensity of the ocean loses his sanity because he cannot reconcile his self. It's an interesting idea to pinch and rework.
4. Longshot. His super power—among the normal things like speed, accurancy, strength and power—is that he can affect probability to give himself good luck. It only works as good if his motives are, and somewhere bad luck occurs as a result. I suppose that would make it so you only used it when absolutely necessary. Odd premise for a superhero—a way to bring morality into a comic (as if it wasn't already there).
5. Desaad. A literary refernece super-villain in a plethora of puns. He is recruited by Darkseid and taken to Apokolips. He is, of course a saadist. He dies all the time, but Darkseid needs him and so he is the most resurected supper-entity in living history.
6. The Crimson Avenger: Jill Carlyle. This is all okay in the early manifestation of this superhero who is male, but gets weird when Jill takes the mantel. Jill inherits the original hero's powers when she buys his guns from a pawn shop. She wears a red mask over her eyes to symbolise Justice; develops a bleeding hole in the middle of her chest. Is it me or is this just some weird manifestation, by a male I imagine, of the menstrual cycle??
7. Doll Man. Doll Man can will himself to be six inches tall, and has special clothes that shrink with him—thus avoiding embarrasing nakedness. I love it when 'special abilities' become the deus ex machina to stop all the questions that the nerdy type of people who like cartoons would ask of the practicalities of superheroness. I also love that this superhero is so perfectly made to be a lifesize action figure of himself—just a shame he has such a wimpy name that no one would buy him.
8. Typhoid Mary. Why is the comic world so misogynistic? Typhoid Mary is man's ultimate phantasy apparently: the virgin, the whore, the little girl and the mommy. But she'll kill you too—making her a 'bad guy'. She also has a psychological disorder: multiple personality. It's the old 'insane' woman trope. Am I over-reacting? Probably: One of her personalities claims she is a feminist after all, killing only men who abuse women. That's alright then.
9. Shaft. Shaft doesn't get much of a write-up—he's the leader of Youngblood and has a MySpace site—but he needs to be included with a phallic name like that doesn't he? Apparently he doesn't have many super-powers—size not mahic after all. But he shoots straight (tee hee). He is also very bad at spelling and grammar. Definitely not my type of superhero!
10. Synn. Synn is a go-go dancer, who after being 'experimented' on by a Dr Dirk Farkas while strapped near naked to a door, has a chemical reasction thanks to the LSD in her system and becomes super-brainy, more brainy than she can control. She becomes on of the members of FemForce, and by the look of it they are just good superheroes, doing good, and it has nothing to do with feminine exploitation. Nope, not a thing. I don't think I will ever be able to read a comic again. Either that, or this would be a great thesis.
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